24th October – Descent from Kedarnath to Gauri kund and drive to Gupt Kashi

 

Now that we had completed the darshan at the last Mahadev temple of the Panch Kedar, we went to sleep without setting an alarm. However, accustomed to waking up early, we were up by 6:30 AM. After tea at a local stall, we decided to visit the Bhairavnath temple, located on a small hill. The climb was steep, but the path was well-paved, unlike the uneven rocky terrain we had encountered earlier.

On our way back from the Bhairavnath temple, we visited the Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi. A gigantic statue of Adi Shankaracharya, carved from what looked like black granite, adorned the temple, whose base was designed like a Sri Chakra. On our way back to our rooms, we saw the Bhim Shila (also known as God’s Rock).

 

After checking out of our rooms, we gathered in front of the temple for a group photo. A ceremonial group photo with the trek company banner followed. I had brought an Indian flag, and a few of us posed with it. Kanni Swami arranged for a porter to carry our luggage, and three of us opted to ride horses.

After a hearty breakfast at a stall opposite the helipad, we started our slow and steady descent at 10:30 AM. We took regular breaks, usually every half hour, for lassi, lemon juice, or fruit plates.

I noticed that the authorities had made arrangements for providing horses with hot water.

We reached Gauri Kund by 3:15 PM and joined our fellow trekkers at a tea stall. After a hot tea and some light snacks, we collected our luggage and did some local shopping for souvenirs. Reversing our routine from the previous morning, we took a shared cab to Sonprayag, but this time it was less crowded and the cabs were relatively empty.

At Sonprayag, Uday Singh met us with the vehicle, and we proceeded to the Tri Yugi Narayan temple, an ancient temple with a rich history. The divine marriage of Shiva and Parvati is believed to have taken place here, witnessed by Lord Vishnu and other deities. A unique feature of this temple is the akhand jyoti (perpetual fire) that has been burning since the time of the divine marriage. We saw a few parents with their young daughters of marriageable age performing puja.

After the darshan, we boarded the bus and went to Hotel Sarvaheet for dinner. Our final destination for the day was Paradise Hotel, where we checked in for the night. Once again, we went to sleep without setting an alarm for the next morning.

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23rd October – Drive from Gupt Kashi to Gauri kund and trek to Kedarnath

 

I mentioned earlier that Vishagan had visited Kedarnath with his mother in 2023. He had arranged a doli for her and opted to trek himself. He was familiar with places like Gauri Kund, Sonprayag, and Sitapur, as well as the modes of transport and routes.

As a first-time visitor, everything was new to me. I relied on the advice of experienced group members and Kanni Swami.

We boarded the bus at 5 AM and left Paradise Hotel for Sitapur. Uday Singh would drop us off there and pick us up later. However, we had to walk about a kilometer with our backpacks and larger bags, which would normally be carried by porters or mules.

The traffic congestion on the road to Sonprayag was a precursor to what we would encounter later. After the walk from Sitapur to Sonprayag, we had to take a shared cab to Gauri Kund.

The mad rush to secure a seat in a shared cab gave us a taste of what to expect. A cab could accommodate a specific number of people with their luggage and charged a hefty fee of Rs 50 per seat. However, the demand was so high that people had to literally jump into the cabs before they stopped. Most cabs returned empty after dropping off trekkers at Gauri Kund.

 

Our group split, with everyone except Swami, Dada, and me getting into a couple of cabs. Dada got into a cab, but the other occupants were part of a group with one more member who couldn’t board. The driver insisted that Dada get off, but Dada, supported by Swami and me, refused. Finally, after threatening to call the police, the driver reluctantly started the vehicle with Dada sporting a victorious grin.

Swami and I jumped into the next cab. After facing typical traffic jams in the hilly area, we reached Gauri Kund one by one. Kanni Swami immediately arranged breakfast for everyone at Neelkant Restaurant. After a good breakfast and tea, we visited the Gauri Kund temple and started the trek at 8:30 AM.

Kanni Swami instructed everyone to share their live location on the WhatsApp group. The long trek was punctuated by tea breaks, juice breaks, lassi breaks, and fruit and chat plate breaks. I preferred an apple to a full-fledged lunch.

The Mandakini River, horse dung, mules, porters, restaurants, and hordes of trekkers were constant companions throughout the trek. I was constantly worried about being pushed by a horse and, indeed, experienced several close calls.

As I attempted to cross an unusually large rock, I accidentally stepped on the laces of my other shoe, loosening them. When I bent down to tie them, I noticed a crack developing where the sole met the upper part of the shoe. Upon examining the other shoe, I was dismayed to find a similar crack. However, since this was the last major trek of this trip, I was also relieved that the shoe hadn’t failed during the trek. While it could still be used for casual outings, I doubt its ability to withstand another demanding mountain trek.

We witnessed an incident where a trekker beat a horseman whose horse had dislodged its rider and couldn’t be controlled.

Focused on careful walking, I kept my mobile phone in my bag and didn’t take any photos. Except for one selfie I took while crossing a bridge over a rushing river.

A few helicopter companies offered direct flights to the temple. As we ascended higher, we could hear the increasing sound of helicopters.

Group members started reaching the top one by one. Accommodation was arranged for five of us at Balaji Resthouse and for Swami and his wife at Jodhpur House. After checking in, we quickly changed out of our travel clothes and headed to the temple area to participate in the aarti.

Shridhar, another member of our Trekkiyer group, joined us from Mumbai at Kedarnath. We had dinner at Tiwari’s and returned to our rooms for rest before the midnight darshan of Kedarnath Mahadev.

Before leaving Mumbai, Vishagan had booked a shodashopachar puja, which is typically conducted between midnight and 4 AM.

After a short rest, we layered up to face the freezing temperatures and left for the temple around midnight. We found a queue of about 50 devotees waiting for the midnight puja. Someone checked the temperature on their phone, which was around 4 degrees and falling. After waiting for about two hours, we entered the temple around 1:45 AM. We had a satisfying darshan and then went to have hot tea. The temperature had dropped to around minus 1 degree, but fortunately, it wasn’t snowing. We returned to our rooms in about 10 minutes, where we could hear the wind howling. Comfortably layered and satisfied with the darshan, we went to sleep.

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22nd October – Trek from Madhmaheshwar to Ransi & drive to Guptkashi

 

I woke up before my alarm went off, probably because we were now used to waking up early, as we went to sleep by 7:30 PM.

We started packing our bags in the dark, and finally, the lights came on at 6:00 AM. All of us had aloo paratha with tea for breakfast, but I only had half a paratha, as it was too early for such a heavy meal. After putting on our backpacks, we walked towards Mahadev’s temple for a quick darshan. We offered a silent prayer to the Lord for the success of our trip so far and started our return trek at 8:15 AM.

The highlight of the day was the contrast between the monotonous first half and the varied second half. The walk, which we started at 8:15 AM, seemed to go on forever. The first part was a descent, the exact reverse of what we did yesterday. The second part was an ascent, the reverse of the day before.

The trek was punctuated by water breaks, tea breaks, and a lunch break at Upper Vantoli. The only difference I noticed was that Ramesh joined Swami for a quick dip in a waterfall during the return journey.

After completing the walk, we boarded the bus from the same spot where we had left it. Needless to say, everyone was very tired.

Swami had asked Uday Singh, our driver, to take us to a couple of temples on our way back to Guptkashi, where Kanni Swami had arranged our accommodation. Thanks to Swami and Vishagan (who quickly checked YouTube and Google), we were able to visit the Omkareshwar temple at Ukhi Math. This is where Kedarnath Mahadev resides for six months during the winter. The temple priest showed us the specially decorated throne where Kedarnath Mahadev’s idol would be placed during the next six months (after the temple closes on November 3rd).

 

The next temple we visited was Kali Math. Situated on the banks of the Saraswati River in Rudraprayag district, it is one of the 108 Shakti Peeths in India. Legend has it that the Goddess went underground at this place after killing the demon Raktbeej. A Lakshmi Mata temple, where the Devi is worshiped in the form of a perpetual fire, is also located here. We had to cross a bridge over the river to reach this temple, which reminded me of the Dhari Devi temple we visited earlier.

We ended our day before reaching Paradise Hotel for the night by visiting the Vishwanath temple in Guptkashi.

Vishagan and Vaidy thoughtfully arranged a packet of barfi from a nearby local sweet shop. During the journey towards Paradise Hotel, we faced a typical traffic situation common in hilly areas. Two large buses coming from opposite directions couldn’t cross each other due to the narrow road. As a result, all traffic on both sides came to a standstill. The issue was resolved by one of the buses reversing to a wider part of the road, allowing the other bus to pass.

While on the bus, Ramesh, Vaidy, and I realized we needed to book accommodation in Rishikesh after the Kedarnath trip. Ramesh tried booking online using our mobiles but was unsuccessful. Finally, we called people back home who could book using their laptops, and we were able to sort it out.

We reached the hotel and checked into our rooms. As instructed by Kanni Swami, we repacked our bags with essentials for the next leg of our journey. We left the non-essentials in an extra bag on the bus to avoid overloading the mules.

Setting alarm to 400 AM for the next morning (Vishagan set his mobile alarm for 345 AM) we hit the beds. The final trek, the long walk to Kedarnath Mahadev temple was scheduled for tomorrow and we planned to start by 500 AM tomorrow.

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21st October – Trek from upper Vantoli to Madhmaheshwar

 

We woke up to the alarm at 5:45 AM, as Anup wanted to begin the trek by 7 AM after breakfast at 6:30 AM. Unfortunately, he had not informed the host about our dietary restrictions.

A few days before the trek, the trek company created a WhatsApp group to share instructions and guidelines with the trekkers. The representative offered a half-Jain diet option, i.e. cooked food excluding onion and garlic. Since this was also a pilgrimage, almost everyone chose this diet until the last Kedar darshan.

The trek leader had to inform all the kitchens about the half-Jain diet. That morning in Upper Vantoli, Anup forgot to inform the host, and the food was prepared with onion and garlic. When we informed the host, he offered to prepare fresh food, but this delayed us by 40 minutes.

This unexpected delay gave us a chance to try something new. The host informed us that tea would be served with breakfast, which was still 40-45 minutes away. Vaidy decided to make coffee. We had the necessary ingredients, and the host provided hot water. So, for the first time since leaving Mumbai, we enjoyed coffee. Many South Indian Brahmins, including most of our group, rely on coffee to start their day. Dada participated and openly appreciated Vaidy's coffee.

After the half-Jain breakfast, we started the day's trek. It was a long but enjoyable walk, and I found it as challenging as, if not more than, Tungnath.

We typically drank water, sometimes mixed with ORS, and often enjoyed local lemonade or fruit juice.

Madhmaheshwar Mahadev's temple was scheduled to close at 1 PM for aarti and bhog. We reached Annapurna homestay around 1:10 PM.  This homestay was a couple of hundred meters from the temple. Vishagan and Ramesh went straight to the temple but returned immediately, informing us that it was closed.

However, Kanni Swami informed us 10 minutes later that the temple was open for a short time, and anyone who rushed there might be able to have darshan. We rushed to the temple, removed our boots, and entered the sanctum sanctorum. Madhmaheshwar Mahadev granted us a blissful darshan.

Returning to the homestay, we had a simple lunch of dal rice, pickle, and homemade puliyodharai. Vishagan, Ramesh, and I spoke to the host, who offered hot water for a nominal fee. A hot water bath was psychologically refreshing. After changing into fresh clothes, we were ready for the evening aarti.

As planned, we recited Rudram at this temple. At 5 PM, we found the temple area empty except for a few tourists. Outside the main entrance, a carpet was laid for about 10-12 people. Interpreting this as a divine invitation, we occupied the carpet and started our recitation. 25 minutes later after completing our recitation, we went in search of tea.

The nearest tea stall owner informed us that overnight guests should have tea at their homestay. We had tea at Annapurna homestay.

When we returned to the temple around 6 PM for aarti and darshan, the atmosphere had changed. The carpet was gone, and a queue of devotees had formed.

About 15-18 devotees were waiting. Colorful lights illuminated the temple, and Shiv bhajan played from a loudspeaker. A pandit opened the temple and started chanting slokas. We realized that some parts of the Sri Rudram were included in the prayer, but with a different musical style.

One by one, we entered the temple for darshan. After the queue, we were allowed to enter again for another darshan and aarti, an unexpected bonus.

After this satisfying darshan, we returned to the homestay canteen. Our host surprised us by informing us that dinner, consisting of rice, dal, and chapati, was ready. The cold weather made the warm canteen inviting. Despite the smoke from the wood fire, we enjoyed a simple but tasty dinner and returned to our rooms by 7:00 PM.

We layered ourselves with thermals and tried to contact our family members, but the mobile network was unavailable. The host graciously allowed us to use his BSNL landline.

I used this early return to review my notes with fellow trekkers.

During dinner, our host explained that after the temple closes for winter (kapat bandh), everyone closes their shops and leaves for their villages. Snow covers everything, and people return in April or May.

We turned off the lights and lay in our beds, discussing the trip, our plans for the next day, and the upcoming visit to Kedarnath Mahadev temple. I drifted off to sleep.

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20th October – Drive from Chopta to Ransi & trek to Upper Vantoli

M.S. Subbulakshmi's divine voice woke us up at 5 AM. Our target for the day was to leave the campsite by 6 AM and reach our destination as soon as possible.

We brushed, changed, and completed almost the full packing with torchlights, as the bulbs in our room wouldn't light up when we flicked the switch. It seems due to the not-so-sunny weather yesterday, the solar panels hadn't charged fully. After we had completed the major part of the packing, the lights came on. This helped us to ensure that we didn't leave behind anything, as searching a dark room with torchlights for any things we may potentially leave behind is quite difficult.

Since it was too early for breakfast, we had tea and bid adieu to Chopta/Baniyakund. Uday drove us safely through a rough terrain for around two hours and reached Ransi village by 9 AM.

The restaurant in which Kanni Swami arranged for breakfast for us was located at a very high spot, overlooking the valley. We could faintly hear a river/brook gurgling several hundred feet below somewhere in the valley.

Everyone had a heavy breakfast of parathas with pickle, followed by hot tea. A full stomach gave us the confidence to start the trek.

Swamy arranged a horse for Sumathi, and Kanni Swami arranged a horse for our luggage. As they were waiting for the horses, Kanni Swami directed us to the place where we had to start the first part of the trek—a descent, and instructed us to proceed. Apparently, there is only this single way starting from Ransi village right up to Madhmaheshwar Mahadev's temple, and we were planning to cover this distance over two days!

It was a steady drop as we started the trek. The surrounding was scenic, and as we started the descent, we could hear the sound of water flowing from the river gradually increasing. The climate was ideal for trekking.

As the sun rose higher and the climate started getting hotter, we started shedding our layers one by one, and by 11:30 AM, we had only a quick-dry T-shirt, sun hats, and dark glasses over our trekking pants. The surroundings gave a lot of scope for nature photography, group photos, and selfies.

 

At one stage, we were crossing a gentle waterfall. This was practically a couple of feet next to the trail path. Swamy ended up doing what most others were thinking about. He had a shorts and towel handy and made the most of the cool waterfall by taking a refreshing bath.

The path was dotted with several messages painted on rocks. Some of these messages encouraged the trekkers to keep going and continue with the trek, some were to discourage trekkers from littering the mountains, and to imbibe a sense of cleanliness. I found a few of them to be witty!

 

We saw several colorful flowers in the small gardens outside some of the homestays. Seeing these flowers gave one a very cheerful feeling.

By 1:30 PM, it started drizzling slightly. With my running nose, I didn't risk getting wet and promptly put on my poncho.

Our trekking party reached Gaundhar village by 1:45 PM. With my running nose getting worse, I preferred a hot tea, while some of us had lemon ade/buransh ade/malda ade. When we started the trek, we were all under the impression that our night stay was arranged at Gaundhar village, but after reaching here, we realized the homestay where we were to spend the night was another couple of kilometers away uphill at a village called Upper Vantoli.

Lunch was also available at Upper Vantoli.

Half an hour later, we reached our homestay and checked into the simple but sturdy rooms. The hot water in the bathroom was inviting, and all of us preferred to have a proper bath before settling down for a late lunch at 3:00 PM.

Vaidy's friend Sahil, who had been following up with Vaidy regarding this trek but who wanted to go solo, met us here, joined us for lunch, stayed with us overnight, and early next morning started his trek towards Mahadev's temple, planning to have darshan and descend tomorrow itself.

After lunch, we did a bit of trek high, for about a couple of hundred meters. This gave us a feel of how tomorrow's path would be. We reached back the homestay for tea and biscuits around 5:00 PM. The climate seemed to favor several specific types of plantation, and citrus seemed to be a very common tree growing here.

Later in the evening, around the dinner table, as we were narrating each other's experiences for the day, Sumathi shared that of the two horses that started the trek with us, one carrying her and the other with all our luggage, the one carrying her was chamathu (obedient or very good in Palghat Tamil), and the other one that was carrying the luggage was a badmash. As per her narration, the badmash one pushed away the luggage from its back and ran away, and the horseman had to run after it to tether it and then load the luggage again.

Seeing me struggle with my running nose, three of my trekking colleagues offered me medicines: Ramesh gave a Dolo 650 for general body pain, Vishagan offered Samahan, an Ayurvedic powder to be mixed in warm water (compactly packed in small sachets) and consumed, and Swamy gave a tablet that would help me get rid of this irritant.

After a wholesome dinner, we retired for the night, and at least I had a nice, unbroken sleep.

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19th October – Trek from Chopta to Tungnath Mahadev temple & back to Chopta

 

Before starting the trek, I remember going through some websites related to the Panch Kedar trek—websites and blogs of trekking companies, tourism companies, the government of Uttarakhand websites, etc. I got to read differing views regarding the difficulty and the distance to be covered for each of these five temples. Some of these labeled Rudranath as the toughest, some mentioned Kedarnath to be toughest, and some mentioned Madhmaheshwar to be the longest and toughest.

After starting the trek, even as we were discussing this among ourselves, except for Vishagan, who had visited Kedarnath in 2023, everyone else seemed to be talking based on theoretical knowledge. So, I decided to take these one at a time, rather than approach with a preconceived notion. For me, the criteria were: four out of five were proper treks, and at the end of the ascent, we get to have darshan of Mahadev in one form or the other.

After setting the alarm for 5:45 AM the earlier night, I went off to sleep with the conviction that M.S. Subbulakshmi's voice would wake me up at this time. However, I had to get up around 2:30 AM to visit the washroom. I took this opportunity to sip half a glass of water before lying back on the bed and getting into the cozy comforter. But I couldn't resume my sleep from where I had left it. I was tossing and turning in my bed for quite some time; I don't remember how much time, but finally, when I did doze off, I felt the alarm going off immediately.

Since Kanni Swami had set us the target to start by 7:30 AM, we woke up each other and did our morning chores. Needless to mention, it was quite cold, and with a proper bathroom not being available, I decided to skip bathing.

Having a peep outside in the lawns, I saw that the sun had risen and was drenching the surroundings in its golden hues. Decked up in our multiple layers, we tried to have a morning walk, but after a couple of selfies, we rushed to the canteen, where the warm atmosphere was welcoming.

Breakfast comprised cooked black chana, toast bread, and porridge. Winding up this tasty breakfast, a hot cup of tea ensured that we filled up our water bottles/flasks with hot water from the canteen and boarded the bus with our backpacks.

 

Uday dropped us at the entrance of the temple, and we started the trek with a prayer on our lips at 8:15 AM.

The ascent was a nice, long, steady climb. The surrounding was foggy. But whenever the sun shone through, we found that the scenery around us was picturesque. The usual liquid intake from our water bottles was supplemented with lemon juice/buransh juice.

The trail had more devotees/trekkers, probably because today was a Saturday, and this was one trek that one could do on a standalone basis. Groups of school and college students, office colleagues' groups, families, and trekkers like us...

 

Also, the number of devotees riding horses was more compared to Rudranath. Probably this was a sign of things to come in the later two treks.

We reached the temple around 11 AM. A few hundred meters before the temple, there was an open space where horses had to stop, and devotees had to walk the remaining distance to the temple. By the time we reached the final set of steps to enter the temple premises, the climate had turned very cold.

 

Removing our shoes outside, with our socks as the only protection between our bodies and the ice-cold stone ground, we had to wait for over half an hour in a queue before we could enter the sanctum sanctorum to have the darshan of Tungnath Mahadev. In this temple, Mahadev gives darshan in the form of arms/hands.

After having an excellent darshan of Tungnath Mahadev, we visited the smaller temples of Parvati Devi and Bhairav Dev.

Getting down from the stage-like pedestal on which the main temple was constructed, we started looking out for a suitable spot where we could start our Rudram recitation. The entire surrounding was freezing cold, had lots of devotees – some waiting for darshan, many having completed darshan taking selfies, a few just roaming around to keep themselves warm, etc  and for a moment, we were at a loss to find a good place where we could sit and start our prayers.

At this point in time, Mahadev directed us to a newly constructed, empty cabin. This looked like a cabin constructed for security personnel. Pushing open the door, we found that it was a small cabin, with a solid wooden bench laid on one corner.

Without second thought, we settled ourselves, closed the door, and in the comfortable confines of this cabin, we opened the Rudram book and started our recitation. Twenty-five minutes later, thanking Him for providing us with this opportunity, we exited from this spot and hurried towards the place where we had left behind our shoes. Putting on our shoes, we returned to this place for some photos and started our descent. Since the mobile network was good, I decided to do a video call back home to show family members the serene surroundings.

Seeing a cozy eatery, we (Ramesh, Vaidy, Vishagan, and myself) opted to have our lunch and a hot tea here. Invigorated with the food, we started our descent. It was totally foggy, and the general visibility was poor. Most of us, therefore, decided to drop visiting Chandrashila, the peak. Dada preferred to take a chance and went ahead with further ascent towards Chandrashila.

The descent was uneventful—the usual water sipping, juice consumption, and the occasional tea. The weather kept changing from foggy to clear skies. During those moments when I got to see clear skies, I wondered at nature's creations. These moments also gave us several photography opportunities.

We reached the point from where we started the trek and got into the bus, waiting for the others to join us. Back at the tent/camp at Chopta, pakoras with hot tea awaited us. After lazing around for some time, dinner was served around 7 PM. Today, Dada had arranged for a sealed pack of gulab jamuns. After a hard day's trek, each of us felt we deserved this sweet and gorged on a couple of jamuns each.

Kanni Swami instructed us to keep our bags packed overnight as we had to leave early morning for Ransi village. With satisfaction of having completed another trek/temple darshan, we retired to bed with a mixed feeling of satisfaction and looking forward to the next.

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